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News from the Kilmore Diocesan Pastoral Centre - Edition 1 2016 MERCIFUL LIKE THE FATHER – SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT AS WE ENTER INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY any question in their hearts: why a Jubilee he logo – the work of Jesuit Father Marko I. of Mercy today? Simply because the Rupnik – presents a small summa M Church, in this time of great historical T theologiae of the theme of mercy. In fact, it change, is called to offer more evident signs of represents an image quite important to the early God’s presence and closeness. This is not the time Church: that of the Son having taken upon his to be distracted; on the contrary, we need to be shoulders the lost soul demonstrating that it is the vigilant and to reawaken in ourselves the capacity love of Christ that brings to completion the mystery to see what is essential. This is a time for the of his incarnation culminating in redemption. The Church to rediscover the meaning of the mission logo has been designed in such a way so as to entrusted to her by the Lord on the day of Easter: to express the profound way in which the Good be a sign and an instrument of the Father’s mercy Shepherd touches the flesh of humanity and does so (cf. Jn 20:21-23). For this reason, the Holy Year with a love with the power to change one’s life. One must keep alive the desire to know how to welcome particular feature worthy of note is that while the the numerous signs of the tenderness which God Good Shepherd, in his great mercy, takes humanity offers to the whole world and, above all, to those upon himself, his eyes are merged with those of who suffer, who are alone and abandoned, without man. Christ sees with the eyes of Adam, and Adam hope of being pardoned or feeling the Father’s love. with the eyes of Christ. Every person discovers in A Holy Year to experience strongly within ourselves Christ, the new Adam, one’s own humanity and the the joy of having been found by Jesus, the Good future that lies ahead, contemplating, in his gaze, Shepherd who has come in search of us because we the love of the Father. were lost. A Jubilee to receive the warmth of his The scene is captured the shape of an almond), a love when he bears us upon his shoulders and figure quite important in early and medieval brings us back to the Father’s house. A year in iconography, for it calls to mind the two natures of which to be touched by the Lord Jesus and to be Christ, divine and human. The three concentric transformed by his mercy, so that we may become ovals, with colours progressively lighter as we witnesses to mercy. Here, then, is the reason for the move outward, suggest the movement of Christ Jubilee: because this is the time for mercy. It is the who carries humanity out of the night of sin and favourable time to heal wounds, a time not to be death. Conversely, the depth of the darker colour weary of meeting all those who are waiting to see suggests the impenetrability of the love of the and to touch with their hands the signs of the Father who forgives all. closeness of God, a time to offer everyone, everyone, the way of forgiveness and reconciliation. From www.iubilaeummisericordiae.va From Pope Francis’ homily during the celebration of First Vespers of the Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, 11 April 2015 he logo and the motto together provide a fitting summary of what the Jubilee Year is all T about. The motto “Merciful Like the Father” (taken from the Gospel of Luke, 6:36) serves as an invitation to follow the merciful example of the Father who asks us not to judge or condemn but to forgive and to give love and forgiveness without measure (Lk 6:37-38). A SEASONAL REFLECTION by Fr. Ultan McGoohan, Chair of the Board of Management Kilmore Diocesan Pastoral Centre Easter fell early this year. While Christmas has a certain sentimental glamour attached to it, people as they grow older often discover a deeper appreciation of Easter. With the exception of the ubiquitous chocolate eggs, Easter is not colonised by commercialism to the extent that Christmas is. The story of the passion of Jesus Christ touched on our lived experience of love and loss, pain and betrayal. After the effort made during Lent and the drama of Holy Week, the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ lifed our spirits and it seems to resonate with the world around us, as the darkness of winter makes way for the freshness of Spring and the hope of the summer to come. Easter brings to the fore the possibility of beginning again, letting go of former ways and putting on Christ. This Easter was particularly significant for Irish people as we marked the centenary of the 1916 Rising. In Kilmore Diocese we have strong connections with the leaders of that seminal event in the story of our nation. Sean MacDiarmada, whom one historian has called the ‘mind of the revolution’, hailed from the parish of Kiltyclogher. Tom Clarke’s father, James, was a native of the parish of Carrigallen. Peter Paul Galligan who led the rising in Enniscorthy was born in Carrigallen and following the death of his mother, was reared in Crosserlough. The commemoration of 1916 inspires us to understand the complexities of Ireland at that time. It is not a simple story as we have come to appreciate in this decade of centenaries. It also challenges us to look at the Ireland the leaders hoped for and to see to what extent their hopes have been fulfilled in the ensuing century. The 1916 Proclamation guaranteed religious and civil liberties, equal rights and equal opportunities for all citizens and the pursuance of the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally. It was a radical manifesto then and it remains a radical manifesto today. While Ireland has achieved much in the last one hundred years, any national examination of conscience in the light of the Proclamation would indicate that we have not yet fulfilled the dreams of the Founders of the nation. We remain a deeply unequal society, with enormous social problems. We find ourselves in a dangerous situation where so many citizens feel alienated from the State. While it is fitting that we commemorate the events of a century ago, we ought to do so not in a sentimental way, but in a way that will inspire us to be a better country. The proclamation also stated that, ‘We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God.’ One hundred years later there is a concerted effort by powerful voices to eliminate God and the values of the Gospel from the public life of our society. This ignores the reality that the founders of our nation were people of deep Christian faith and that the roots of our common bond as a people are Christian roots. Many of the wonderful things that happen in Ireland - in education, care for the vulnerable, and charitable endeavors - are carried out by people of faith. A society without a soul is an impoverished society. The words of Padraig Pearse’s poem ‘The Fool’ have often resonated with me and they help us place this significant anniversary in context: O wise men riddle me this, what if the dream come true? What if the dream come true? And if millions shall dwell in the house that I shaped in my heart, the noble house of my thought? Lord, I have staked my soul, I have staked the lives of my kin on the truth of thy dreadful word. Do not remember my failures, But remember this, my faith. EDITORIAL Seán Coll, Director of the Kilmore Diocesan Pastoral Centre As I prepare to finalise this edition of Glad Tidings and get it to the printers, I am conscious that I write this editorial in the shadow of the beautiful feast of the Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven, which is also designated by the Church as World Day for Social Communication. In his message for this year’s World Day for Social Communication, which happens to be the 50th such annual day, Pope Francis wrote, “The Holy Year of Mercy invites all of us to reflect on the relationship between communication and mercy … As sons and daughters of God, we are called to communicate with everyone, without exception … Communication has the power to build bridges, to enable encounter and inclusion, and thus to enrich society … Communication, wherever and however it takes place, has opened up broader horizons for many people. This is a gift of God which involves a great responsibility. I like to refer to this power of communication as “closeness”. The encounter between communication and mercy will be fruitful to the degree that it generates a closeness which cares, comforts, heals, accompanies and celebrates. In a broken, fragmented and polarized world, to communicate with mercy means to help create a healthy, free and fraternal closeness between the children of God and all our brothers and sisters in the one human family. The purpose of Glad Tidings is to be a vehicle of communication in the Diocese of Kilmore, to complement the social media presence of the diocese, its parishes and pastoral areas, and the Diocesan Pastoral Centre through websites, Facebook and Twitter profiles.